Telephone sets and telephone set technologies are well-known.
Telephone sets generally include a base and a handset, the handset being communicatively linked to the base either by direct physical connection or wirelessly. The telephone base generally contains the electrical circuitry and components for receiving and transmitting telephone communication signals. The telephone base may also contain various controls and features, such as a numerical keypad, a liquid crystal or other type of display, speed dial function keys, call hold and transfer function keys, and other features and controls associated with a telephone and use thereof for initiating, conducting, and terminating a calling session.
Currently, telephone sets—particularly, so-called “land-line” telephone sets—are configured, if at all, for comparatively basic, rudimentary, or otherwise limited information display functionality. The call-related information displayable on current telephone sets typically include such information as: system status (e.g., date, time, etc.), system alerts (e.g., voice mail alerts, missed calls, etc.), caller identification, elapsed call time, address book data, and the like. Access to such call-related information is typically accomplished through use of menu-driven hierarchical data trees in combination with a text-based user interface (e.g., a command line interface), navigated in certain instance by dedicated buttons on the key pad of the telephone set's base or handset.
With the rapid and escalating development of digital internet telephony, and the pervasive adoption of packet-based network and internetworking communication services, the development of landline telephone sets is gravitating towards greater connectivity with networks and networked computers, pursuing wider opportunities for developing and adding new, more elaborate, and more cost-efficient call-related functionalities and services. As these new functionalities and services are developed, there emerges a heightened desire and need to make more accessible and easy the presentation of and access to more massive amounts of call-related data and applications.